Mustangs a contender for Halton title — if they can get back on the ice

Mustangs a contender for Halton title — if they can get back on the ice

Graham Paine / Canadian Champion

Milton District Mustangs goalie Anthony Henin turns aside a shot against the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders in Wednesday's Halton boys hockey game. Henin recorded a shutout in Milton's 5-0 win. The victory could be the Mustangs' last for a while as a dispute between the province and teachers has led to the cancellation of next week's high school schedule.

A year after winning Halton’s tier 2 boys hockey title, the Milton District Mustangs’ have their sights set on another championship. This time, though, they’re looking to be crowned the top team in the region.

With nine players returning from their tier 2 championship team, the Mustangs have established themselves as a contender for the tier 1 title. With wins in their first three games, the Mustangs are just one of four teams in the 21-team league to have a perfect record. In their toughest test of the season Wednesday, the Mustangs blanked last year’s tier 1 finalists, the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders, 5-0.

Further strengthening the returning group are several former AA and AAA rep players who came on board to help the Mustangs take a run at Halton’s best.

That was on display against Aquinas as Milton got goals from five different players — Rob Brown, Peter Corusi, Justing Raposo, Zack Collier and Sam Robson. Robert James and Jack Goncz each chipped in with a couple of assists each.

The Mustangs have also been solid in their own end with a defence anchored by Collier and Callum Bowles.

“It’s the first time we legitimately have six D, and really you could put any of them out there and feel confident,” said Mustangs’ assistant Dallas Wilson.

That group of D, combined with goalies Anthony Henin — who recorded the shutout against Aquinas — and Tyler McKinnon, have surrendered just two goals in their three games. That’s made the Mustangs are a formidable opponent, who including exhibition games, have outscored their last four opponents 31-4.

The only thing standing in Milton’s way of challenging for the tier 1 title is the dispute between the province and public school teachers. With job action by the teachers being increased to include extra-curricular activities, the Halton Secondary School Athletic Association has cancelled its high school schedule for next week. That will wipe out Milton’s games against Loyola and Blakelock, both 1-1 this season and threatens their Dec. 20 meeting with cross-town rival Bishop Reding if an agreement isn’t reached before Christmas.

“It’s a shame having to shut it down,” O’Brien said. “Hopefully in a week or two, things will have changed.”

The cancellation of games hits hockey a little harder than other sports because players must choose between playing rep and high school, they can’t do both as students in other sports can. That means if at some point the remainder of the schedule is wiped out, their season will have consisted of only half a dozen games. O’Brien said he love to see the situation resolved so that it doesn’t come to that.

“This is the only hockey these guys are allowed to play,” O’Brien said. “I’m sure there are rep teams that would probably be happy to have them. We’ve told them we’re in a wait-and-see period, but if it came to having to make a decision, you’d have to respect it if they had to go.”

Should a resolution be reached, O’Brien likes the Mustangs chances, not only in league play, but beyond.